DC-ASS (oops)

So the results of last week's DC-BAS test for "proficiency" came back.  

My non-reader was labeled "proficient" in a reading section...

None of the other students were in that section.

He did a really good job guessing bubbles on that one. 

....(really? these "high-stakes" tests are what teachers' futures, schools' paths, etc are based on.... really?)

How do you...

How would one go about investing kids in their own education?

I've pulled kids aside and done the "what comes after elementary school? what comes after middle school? and after high? right, college" talk a few times this year.  and what!?! is college our end-goal? (it's not for me.....having the most opportunities in one's life AS WELL AS being a responsible global citizen are, to me, the end-goal of education, all education. but perhaps college can be a means to that end...) if so, how do we make it a concrete one? 

K-W-L

A K-W-L can be a useful graphic organizer to help students put together thoughts on what they Know (the "K," which also, incidentally, reinforces a lesson about silent letters....), Want to Know, and Learned. The other day, in our first Content Seminar (DCTF's alternative to a Masters program), we put one together based on our first couple weeks of teaching. I think the results are fairly entertaining and telling.

What we Know

1. Our Kids Can Succeed.
2. Teaching is Difficult.
3. The First Year... Is Rough.

What we Want to Know

1. How do we cluster standards when students are incredibly below their grade level?
2. What exactly should we be doing in a SAM (School-wide Application Model) school?
3. How do we explain to general ed teachers what special ed is... and what our job as the special ed teacher is?
4. What are the best record-keeping systems?

What We've Learned.

1. Some kids just will not listen to me.
2. Teaching requires a LOT of prep.
3. I will raise my voice :(
4. Things that you thought should take 5 minutes take an hour. Things that you think will work, bomb.
5. Getting kids to line up and walk quietly in a hallway is near impossible.
6. Your day does not end at 3:30. And weeks do not "end."

Teach a Teacher to... Post Standards?

A Third Week Pop Quiz:

Q. Which of the following make a good teacher?

A.
a. Posting Standards on the board
b. Posting Essential Questions for the unit on the board
c. Creativity, Empathy, and Flexibility
d. Having a Word Wall in the classroom
e. Following a five-part lesson-plan format
f. Everything but "C"

?

Scholars

tomorrow is the FIRST DAY. 

i think i'll see everything from the itty bitty pre-schoolers, so nervous and overwhelmed, to my students, some of whom invariably don't want to be there and will probably...show that. 

i hope to take it all in....

and to go with it, whatever it brings.

B-B-B-Benny and the Vets

So veteran teachers.

In our program, we spent a lot of time learning that it is a Good Thing to seek out veteran teachers.  We even learned the Best Ways to do so.

All I can say is, after this past week of professional development, I don't think it's a Good Thing to seek out veteran teachers.  It is a NECESSITY!! Do people ever really walk in to their schools without asking at least 8942375 questions?  

Everything from, and not limited to: where the custodial room is to how I plan field trips to how my schedule will work with pulling students out to do you know anything about my students, anyway? to what is the reading program we use in the school to what is a lattice square to what does PD stand for to where is the music room to do I have to sign up for lunch duty? to where do I sign in in the morning to how do I sign up for an email address to how do I sign up for my HR benefits to how do I log on to a computer to how many copies per month do I get to how do I print out lesson plans to when will I be observed... phew, that was a big breath.  But seriously... thank you, thank you, veteran teachers.  

(New Teacher) Orientation

Tomorrow, my brother heads back up to college to prepare for O-Week (Orientation Week--for new students).  This is something I was a part of for all four years of college.  Embarking on tomorrow's New Teacher Orientation, 400 miles from the serene college life, I wonder how similar those two O-experiences might be.

Let's see.  In Freshman orientation at school, we always (arguably ad nauseum) learn the Fish philosophy, borrowed from the Pike Place fish market in Seattle, which teaches four simple skills for doing customer service-y things that you're not necessarily having a blast with.

1) Be there.

2) Play.

3) Make their day.

4) Choose your attitude.

Simple enough.  And probably applicable for working with students---who I certainly do not and will never view as customers---just as I never viewed my freshmen and women peers as customers, either.  

What else?

Johnny the bagger.  Overly, overly, overly sappy, buta good message about how each person can do a tiny thing that makes a big difference. Yadda yadda, I sound very Mr. Rogers right now. It's late. And... I'm trying to get into Mr. Rogers mode.  Which  I think means getting rid of my trucker mouth.  And getting some neighbors.  And some sweater vests.